3 Impressive Improvements in Xbox 720

A lot of buzz is being made around the internet, and most of it is about the new to come console from Microsoft: the Xbox 720. All over the place there are loads of rumours about the specs and the release date for it. And still there’s no much info that you could truly believe.

1. Graphics Six Times More Powerful than Xbox 360

First of all, the specs. This is one subject there’s not much info about right now. First reports are that Microsoft is planning to begin the mass production of the system’s GPU by the end of 2012. Unfortunately, it will not be based on AMD’s 7000 series Southern Islands GPU, but will be akin to Radeon HD 6670 (with support for DirectX11, multidisplay output, 3D and 1080p HD output). That means that the raw graphics processing power will be at least 6 times than that of the Xbox 360.

Thinking that the 360 currently uses a custom-made IBM Power PC with a trio of 3.2GHz cores and an ATI graphics processor, we can make an image about the processor and graphics on the 720. Considering that until 2013, AMD will release their entire lineup of HD 8000 graphics chips, the Radeon HD 6670 will be long behind. Provided that the 360 is using a ‘Vejle’ CPU/GPU combo processor, everyone is betting on the use of a cutting-edge AMD fusion chip for the 720, most probably the DX11-capable Krishna APU (Accelerated Processing Unit), which is due to release in 2012.

2. Cloud Storage for Xbox 720

Other reports are saying that, for the new Xbox, the abandon of physical storage in favor of cloud storage is taken in consideration. Which might not be a bad thing if we consider the fact that Steam had been used for years now and OnLive is beginning to make itself noticed. And even more, it could all run on Windows 8, as Microsoft is trying to create a ecosystem of apps between Windows Phone, Windows and the next Xbox. It should also have an Integrated Wireless Internet Receiver, which is good news for the users, who will now be able to connect and then subscribe to XboxLive without letting go of the controller.

Next, we have the rumours surrounding the release date for this new gaming console. Here, we really don’t know what to expect. According to a “high-ranking source at Crytek”, it is likely to be unveiled at E3 2013, with a shown off at CES 2012. In the same time, Microsoft said that they are planing a life-span of at least 10 years for the Xbox 360, which puts the release of the Xbox 720 somewhere around 2015. They explained that the launch of Kinect over a year ago meant the resurrection of the 360, so the release of a new gaming console in the near future would be a really bad move.

3. LCD Display for Xbox 720′s Controller

The last thing to talk about, but certainly one of the most important in the view of most gamers is the Xbox 720 controller. It is expected to have a small LCD display, which will be a huge step forward. Specs for the display have not been announced, but it is said that the screen could include options such as the connection status to XboxLive, in-game info (such as health ,ammo and game progress) and a feed of the latest Xbox and Microsoft news.

Taking all these rumours into account, we can only get to one conclusion: we won’t be having a new, improved Xbox console until 2014-2015 the very least.